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August 08, 2008 01:12 AM UTC

MarketWatch: "Why McCain Would Be A Mediocre President"

  • 7 Comments
  • by: Go Blue

This is harsh.

Since last January, Sen. Obama’s fitness for the presidency has been the only question that matters in American politics. The pollsters and pundits agree that if Obama can show the voters that he’s up to the job, he’ll win. If not, he won’t.

But that begs another question: Is McCain fit to lead America?

That question hasn’t been asked, nor has it been answered.

The assumption seems to be that McCain’s years of experience in the military and in Congress of course give him the background and tools he’d need in the White House. As Britney might say, “Duh! For sure he’s qualified!!! He’s Mac!!!”

But is that true? Does McCain have the right stuff?

A careful look at McCain’s biography shows that he isn’t prepared for the job. His resume is much thinner than most people think.

Here are some reasons why McCain would be a mediocre president.

More on the flip side

Lack of accomplishments

Like the current occupant of the White House, McCain got his first career breaks from the connections and money of his family, not from hard work.

Shallow

McCain has done one thing well — self promotion. Instead of working on legislation or boning up on the issues, he’s been on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” more than any other guest. He’s been on the Sunday talk shows more than any other guest in the past 10 years. He’s hosted “Saturday Night Live” and even announced his candidacy in 2007 on “The Late Show with David Letterman.”

McCain has not articulated any lofty goals. So far, his campaign theme has mostly been “McCain: He’s None of the Above.”

In the primaries, he campaigned on “I’m not that robotic businessman, I’m not that sanctimonious hick, I’m not that crazy libertarian, I’m not that washed-up actor, I’m not that delusional 9/11 guy.” In the general election, he’s emphasized that he’s not that treasonous dreamer.

No Leadership

McCain has frequently taken on near-impossible missions that go against the grain of his party. It’s the basis of his reputation as a maverick. But McCain has never been able to bring more than a handful of Republicans along with him on issues such as campaign finance reform or immigration. Democrats on the Hill have accepted McCain’s help on some issues, but except for a few exceptions (John Kerry and Joe Lieberman), they’ve never warmed to him.

Living In The Sixties

McCain is still fighting the Vietnam War. But he’s not fighting the real historic war, which taught us the folly of injecting ourselves into a civil war that was none of our business. We learned that, in a world where even peasants have guns, explosives and radios, a determined and popular guerrilla force can defeat a modern army equipped with the mightiest technology if that army has no vital national interest to protect.

Instead, McCain is fighting an imaginary Vietnam War, where a sure victory could have been achieved with just a little more bombing, just a little more “pacification,” just a little more will to win at home. This fantasy clouds McCain’s judgment on foreign policy.

Most of the other high-profile politicians who fought in Vietnam — Colin Powell, Chuck Hegel, John Kerry, and Jim Webb — aren’t stuck in the past, and they don’t view the Iraq War as a chance to get Vietnam right.

No Principles

After years of honing a reputation as a guy who’ll say the truth regardless of the political consequences, McCain has crashed the Straight Talk Express. On almost every issue where he took a principled stand against the Republican line — taxes, immigration, oil drilling, the Religious Right — he’s changed his views.

We ought to like politicians who change their mind when the facts change; it shows maturity, judgment and flexibility. But politicians who change their mind to suit the prevailing winds show the opposite.

The bottom line

Successful presidents come from two molds: visionaries, or mechanics. The visionaries — think Reagan or FDR — see what others can’t and say ‘Why not?” to inspire the country. The mechanics — think LBJ or Eisenhower — know the ins and outs of government and are able to harness the power of millions of humans to accomplish great things, or at least keep the wheels from coming off.

McCain fits neither style. He’s neither a dreamer, nor a detail guy. His major accomplishment, in Vietnam and in the Senate, has been merely to survive.

Just surviving doesn’t make you’re a hero, or a decent president. America needs to do more than survive the next four years.

Like I said, this was harsh.

Comments

7 thoughts on “MarketWatch: “Why McCain Would Be A Mediocre President”

  1. http://online.wsj.com/article/

    A former executive who says his boss pressured him to contribute to Republican Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign has filed an employment-bias complaint that offers a rare glimpse behind the curtain of big-money corporate fund raising.

    “This is not about me trying to force a political candidate on you and trying to see how you vote,” Mr. Holdren wrote in one email, dated Jan. 27, 2008, to Huron managing directors, the firm’s senior executives. “This is just business and the way business works.”

    Other emails from Mr. Holdren refer to conversations with Mr. Romney, deals Huron supposedly won from Romney supporters at other firms and promises to reward Huron executives with “business for your contributions.”

    The GOP its not corruption…its just business.

  2. http://ap.google.com/article/A

    John McCain’s campaign says it will review donations brought in by a prominent Florida businessman following disclosures that his business partner, a foreign national, also may have engaged in fundraising.

    A McCain spokesman says the campaign is looking into hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions to make sure that they are appropriate.

    The campaign is sending a letter spelling out legal requirements to all donors who sent their contributions through Harry Sargeant III, the finance chairman of the Florida Republican Party.

    1. That task fell to a longtime business partner, Mustafa Abu Naba’a. Mr. Sargeant said in an interview that he has known Mr. Abu Naba’a for more than a decade and has worked with him on commercial ventures, including a contract with the Pentagon to supply fuel to the military in Iraq.

      Sargeant’s business partner is a Jordanian national and fellow Iraq war profiteer who appears to have used straw donors to funnel foriegn contributions to the McCain campaign.

      http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08

  3. MarketWatch, owned by Dow Jones, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch. How long before this clear-eyed Washington bureau chief gets reassigned to cover the housing crisis on Alaska’s North Slope?

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